Mended Hearts Open Forum

BACKGROUND: The journey to this forum is one of survival, it started 1/2/26 with a heart attack. Rushed to a rural hospital / sent to another hospital for stints, oops "code blue". After two days stint recovery, sent home. Next day 3am my daughter is performing CPR as I awake and loaded into ambulance, back to rural hospital. They said my CPR was due to hospital induced pneumonia not a heart related event. After two days in the hospital I was released home. As luck would have it, 3 hours later I am getting CPR from my daughter "again", ERT's de-fibbed me and sent me back to rural hospital. It was a cold stormy night! Nothing would fly (fixed wing or rotary) and yet I had to go to a specialty heart facility 85 miles north. The heart hospital dispatched a fully loaded ambulance with EMT,s (it took 5 hours to reach our rural hospital. 20 minutes out from the facility, I suffered 3 defibrillation events and arrived barely alive. My wife and young adult kids went through tough times with each event leading to a form of PTSD. Now they are kind of gun-shy when I sleep. Life at home has changed so much! My daily life habits are all but gone. Post surgery has left, brain fog & a huge emotional flux of changes for all of us. I tend to hold things in, now it seems I get frustrated/yell at the drop of a hat. If this has happened to you, let me know. Does anyone have any words of wisdom to help us navigate this strange journey??!! 

Hi Fred

Sounds like you had a really rough go so far.  Events like these changes everyone's lives, not just ours.  It also seems that part of your challenge was getting to the care you needed.  It's unfortunate that other symptoms (pneumonia) occur during hospital stays.  My heart attack occurred five years ago on 3/22. There were a lot of challenges with my recovery.  Six weeks in ICU, one week on a regular floor and five additional weeks at a rehab hospital. I get how life changing health events impacts the mental aspects.  It's been a long recovery for me mentally as well as physically.

Aside from my physical rehabilitation, I sought the help of a psychologist.  She helped me to navigate the "new" me.  I recommend anyone going through PTSD or other struggles to seek out this kind of help.  Find someone you would feel comfortable in sharing your story, as well as the impact on your family.

Today I serve as a patient advocate for Mended Hearts.  I visit heart patients at local hospitals.  I also work for the National office attending health fairs, National Discussion Panels as well as lobbying members of Congress regarding health care legislation.  My doctors feel that I am doing well, but I am also hyper-vigilant with my diet and exercise routines.  You will find your way with that as well.

Good luck with your journey.  I had a rough start to this journey as well.  But you can definitely improve. You will not be who you were, but you will be better than you could have been!